The Outposts (Confessions of a Wasteland Pony)
The Outposts are a series of locations in the audio drama series Confessions of a Wasteland Pony. They mainly appear in the fifth episode, The Ranger, and the eighth episode, The Red Reaper. History & The Guardianship The Outposts are a series of weapon storage bunkers created for the Equestrian Army Special Material Command during the Great War. They were intended to quickly resupply and restore order for the post-war government should an all out Megaspell exchange actually occur. The contract for their construction was awarded to EAST Corp not long after the Zebras learned how to create Megaspells. The civilian shelters were being constructed by Stable-Tec, who simply did not have the ability to handle both projects. EAST Corp owned a number of mines which were already depleted, so construction could begin very quickly. Most of those larger mines were located in Thunder Valley, a geological oasis nestled within the giant deserts in Southern Equestria. Construction began there, with seven unique installations located within the valley and several more located in the mountain range just North of the desert. It is believed that all 24 Outposts were successfully completed, but work to connect them with underground data connections was not completed, due to how far separated Thunder Valley was to the Equestrian Heartland. A stopgap was in place however as all installations seemed to be within range of EAST Corp's Extremely Low Frequency Transmitter network. They had sold similar technology to the Equestrian military to varied success, but this was after years of EAST Corp's own internal development, so most of the ELF transmitters were privately operated by EAST Corp themselves. Unfortunately, a critical decision was made to remove soldiers from all but the main storage outpost, Castle Alpha. There was still hope that the skilled steel rangers of the Special Material Command could help turn the tide of the conventional war to prevent a Megaspell exchange from occurring at all. Only 1,000 soldiers remained in Castle Alpha when The Last Day finally happened. Most of the Outposts were strategically placed all over Equestria but their specific locations had to be a tightly guarded secret because of the risk that could happen of any one of them going rogue. The original plan was to have them all connected by underground data lines, the ELF transmitters, and most importantly by rail. Each storage bunker was connected to Equestria's national railroad network. Being able to quickly reconstruct railroad track was seen as one of The Outposts' main priorities. If worse came to worse, reconnecting all the cities by rail would be the quickest way to restore order and a working economy between the different regions. As such, almost all the Outposts were arranged with an enclosed railyard as the top level. Forklifts, locomotives, train cars, and some of the larger stored equipment (like tanks) remained on this level ready for quick deployment. The second level contained stored coal reserves. As one of the most critical resources of the war, they stored as much as possible that they could spare for post-war use. The third level contained spark batteries, crystals, munitions, and basically any kind of energy source required to power arcane technology. The fourth level contained bulk construction materials and repair tools. These were mainly implements for reconstructing the railroads, but there were general supplies stored as well. Finally, the fifth level contained everything else: power armor, weapons, medical supplies, and anything unique or special that needed the extra protection. During the war, the Outposts were sealed up but were ready to shelter nearby soldiers and sailors who would then be able to follow the orders of Castle Alpha and the Special Material Command. The Master Spell Matrix in the castle was able to control all of the Outposts remotely. Unfortunately, connection was lost between Thunder Valley and the rest of Equestria. Castle Alpha could not communicate with Canterlot or 14 of the 24 Outposts. A loss of connection to the master spell matrix (and all the military command authority it represented) placed those 14 Outposts into "Argo Contingency." This meant that they were now operating on their own, and had independent authority unless connection was re-established with the master spell matrix. Although those Outposts were separated, the ones in Thunder Valley remained connected via the underground data lines. This proved effective when the Special Material Command suffered a mutiny by the second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Mason, who wished to rule a separatist faction out of Outpost Beta. The garrison commander during the end of the Great War, Colonel Hardwick, was able to shut down Outpost Beta's systems until Mason and his traitors could be executed. This would incentivize Hardwick to declare himself Elder and reform the Special Material Command into The Guardianship. Unfortunately, Castle Alpha and the six other Outposts in Thunder Valley would be destroyed. Elder Greycrest was forced to initiate "Pyrrhus Protocol." This triggered their reactors to self-destruct to prevent the Great Arrows from controlling the weapons inside. Notable Installations * Castle Alpha - Five times larger than the others, 10 levels, original command center of the installations. * Outpost Beta - First reclaimed bunker, setting of Mason's Mutiny which fundamentally shaped The Guardianship. * Outpost Kappa - Birthplace of Analog Armature. * Outpost Delta - Birthplace of Star Paladin Turquoise, located within the lightning storm region by the Crooked Spire. * Outpost Zeta - Elder Feathertail's reckless mission to capture it led to the Blood Canyon Massacre, her own execution, and the origin of her son Fuel Rod's treachery. It would be a major life mission of Sandstone & Carmina to avenge their parents. * Outpost Theta - The only Outpost with an underground data line to Castle Alpha that was within range of an ELF Transmitter. * Outpost Sigma - Northwest of Manehattan, it would be where Paladin Sandstone escaped to after the fall of Thunder Valley. * Outpost Tau - Southeast of the San Palomino Desert, plays a significant role in the eighth episode of the series. Behind The Scenes * The general settings of the Outposts are based on the American Southwest, which are home to a number of highly secretive or important military facilities such as Cheyenne Mountain NORAD Complex, Area 51, Nellis AFB, Edwards AFB, Fort Irwin, Naval Air Station China Lake, White Sands Missile Range, and Kirtland AFB (Nuclear weapon storage repository). * There are 24 Outposts, corresponding to the letters of the Greek Alphabet. Category:EAST Corp Productions Category:Confessions of a Wasteland Pony Category:Locations (Confessions of a Wasteland Pony)